"ilomiloThis is a puzzle-platformer with a co-op spin. You control two different characters (one red, one blue), switching between each to solve puzzles with the ultimate goal being to unite the two. Using an on-screen d-pad to move around, the combination of art style
and extremely easy-to-get-into gameplay made this a favorite for me. Plus there are even some cool three-dimensional puzzles where you move around the world a la
Super Mario Galaxy. Very neat!"

1. Channel 9 is all about the conversation. Channel 9 should inspire Microsoft and our customers to talk in an honest and human voice. Channel 9 is not a marketing tool, not a PR tool, not a lead generation tool.

This should probably be removed from your doctrine. Channel9 has become a marketing tool.

We have not become a marketing tool. We have added new types of content to our portfolio which, in all fairness, is still somewhat experimental as we strive to expand our audience (without losing our core audience - developers).

The irony here is that we are in fact having a conversation right now (the doctrine applies to more than just videos - there have been some really bad marketing videos over the years....)

I tend to agree with you, though. I'm not a big fan of commercials on Channel 9 either, but we are talking about it, right? It's great to see that there are some cool games ready for WP7. Perhaps, we can get Laura to provide some more meaty content to
highlight this (how are these games written, for example? What was the dev experience for the game producers? Do they like the new model? Etc) in the future.

You know you have, and you can't say it here. Remember the amazing vids you used to do? Remember when you're CEO danced like a monkey and screamed developers? It was glorious. I connected with Microsoft that day. The original Channel 9? Amazing. I'd watch
a video a week - AT LEAST. You know it has changed, and not for the better.

It appears as if you and the founding members made something amazing, then all these slick marketing folks figured out how to ride your coattails to success. Sure, you might have more viewers, and get links put on digg and slashdot, or whatever the goal
is - but as a developer of MS tools I miss the original, better Channel9.

Remember those interviews you'd do with some developer with crappy mics, and it'd be in his office, and you could see some dude writing code in the office across the hall? holy crap! that was awesome. remember that dude who got on and swore about threads?
I watched those videos twice.

I can't imagine you like what has become of channel9, and I'm sure you couldn't say anything bad about in this forum - but go to your internal meetings and fight these fools. Have them go make their own outlet - keep them out of channel9.

I admire what you and the original channel9 folks have done. Your interviews are great and informative. The direction channel9 is taking is lame.

Thanks for the feedback and honesty. I enjoy these conversations, especially

I did not say that Channel 9 hasn't changed. Of course it has. We are 6 years old. We may no longer be the small team of misfits who's main goal was to expose the internals of the Death Star to reveal its true caramel sweet center made of
people and the software they dream up and build. What has changed, however, is
not the goal itself, but the ways in which we accomplish it: more types of content (C9 "Classic"content is still produced - it's primarily what I do when making content, though we do need to do more of it and I have spent more time on getting others
to make content for C9 than running around campus with my camcorder. I have to grow, too, right?)

Channel 9 has had to evolve to meet the needs of the company - remember that the company allowed Channel 9 to exist in the first place: there is
no other company of our size in the world that would ever let something like Channel 9 exist. Think about it. We are returning the favor, in some sense, but we still produce Old School content, it's just not ALL that we do.... Again, it's just that
not all of our content is Old School 9 and that's fine! We are stretching, growing. The History of Microsoft (real documentaries), Channel 9 Live, real Shows, we have a great studio, lots of developers producing content directly, etc...

We are tasked with helping Microsoft reach developers, their minds and their hearts. Futher, we are tasked with doing the same thing for non-developer technical enthusiasts. We can't expect that my videos, for example, will be meaningful to the latter group
of folks. I target developers only. That's my job. This is also true for all the other developer content created by developers.... That's my core strength. I am a developer at heart. What about the rest of the target audience? Do we just pretend they don't
matter? Of course not! Enter Laura, Tina, Nic and Larry. They are technical enthusiats and create great content that
means something to their peers. Further, they are taking the way content is produced, the quality, the stories to new levels - great levels that are broadly consumable.

Finally, look at all the great technical content, developer-to-developer, that is being created
every day by many engineers across the company (and around the world!). I mean, if you want to understand what the hell is going on with Microsoft's platform technologies, then Channel 9 is still the place to find out. We just have more content variety,
not less Old School. We haven't replaced the goal of Channel 9. We have had to expand it to be more meaningful to more people (not only developers - who, again, will always be a primary focus, just not the
only focus). In many ways, when Scoble left, I turned C9 into a big Going Deep episode and that is not good for Channel 9 - so you can blame me for losing the core focus on
people. Laura and Tina, specifically, have turned this around - and in their own way. People, People, People, People!! Lightbulb Larry will be doing more in-office magic this year. I think he could be another Scoble in this way. Nic is rocking out
Channel 9 Live, which is certainly as Channel 9 as it gets - none of the conversations on the C9 Live sofa are rehearsed or scripted. It's real in real time and anybody with a Twitter account can ask questions...

Now, please don't use this particular WP7 marketing video as your assessment of what has become of Channel 9... This is an exception,
not the rule. It's one piece of content in a sea of contet. Laura and I talked about this type of content showing up on 9 and she agrees that we should not just post pieces produced by product marketing teams, but rather put the C9 stamp on the technology
at hand.

Please do continue to speak your mind openly and flame us when we deserve it. In this case, I tend to agree that this should not have been on the C9 home page. Laura produces great content for 9. She didn't produce this piece. She posted it.

My turn to chime in...Poster, I completely respect your viewpoint and understand where you are coming from. Channel 9 is
evolving- but the core principles behind it are not.

Here's the situation with this video: I see that it's a commercial, I know that. But, it's also the only game footage we have right now for WP7 and I wanted to get it out there before it was old news. I figured it was quick and flashy- and would wet the
palette of Niners out there who are excited about this new platform. Granted, in an ideal world we would have talked to the developers and had more of a conversation in true Channel 9 style- but that wasn't an option. So, I opted to show you the sizzle reel-
and return with future videos that dive deeper and answer the questions you want asked.

For example, I will be posting a deep dive on the Accellerometer Helper for developers next week. It's dev on dev, and no where even close to resembles a commercial.

I guess the moral of the story is that you will still get what you have always come to Channel 9 to see- real honest discussion about topics that matter to you. But as we evolve, and exceptional situations arise, you will also get new stuff- hopefully some
of it may even be to your liking. The point is, we're listening, and while we may not hit a homerun in your book every time- our next slugger will be up soon

wow, such straight talk from laura and charles. remember when that one dude quit a long time ago and then posted some flame about who didn't refill the coffee maker - or something equally important - can't remember what exactly it was about. either way,
i thought it was awesome, just cause it made it seem like channel9 wasn't all NDA-ed up. i hope it stays that way.

in retrospect, i can understand that channel9 is evolving. it just seems like those pesky little marketing and pr folks are managing to work their sneaky little tentacles in just a little bit more as of late. seems like there isn't a faster way to get a
group of borderline asperger folks (developers) to tune out. example: those fancy screen shots during the wp7 interview. lame-o. just like a commercial, set to an interview. i know you'll have cool interviews going into depth on those screen shots - but as
it is, that whole video wasn't exactly useful. Here is the whole thing summerized: "WP7 release date: Sept 26th. Here are some screen shots".

"We are tasked with helping Microsoft reach developers, their minds and their hearts. Futher, we are tasked with doing the same thing for non-developer technical enthusiasts." -
Maybe another channel? My mom and myself will go to the same place and watch videos about MS products? Can't picture it. I know there are tags, I guess I should use the tags. To be honest I can't picture that working, but that is channel9's call.

d campus with my camcorder. I have to grow, too, right? - you know that dev that did more work than everyone else combined, and if he had moved to hawaii to surf you'd all be screwed? he was so awesome they put him in charge. then he had to deal
with devs that refused to write tests, or refuesed to document their api, and he had to document all conversations with that slacker who always came in hung over, and then he had to deal with that harrasment issue. then one day someone realized he no longer
coded. some people are perfect at what they do - then they get promoted.

All in all, Channel9 is awesome. Keep up the good work, just thought I'd bemoan the fact that it seems to have changed. Maybe I should welcome change. Maybe I'll get a different flavored latte this afternoon to celebrate change.